TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 



213 



founded apprehension of savages and wild beasts, and the more so, 

 as for want of the necessary apparatus he could not kindle a fire to 

 keep them off. He had made up his mind to wait for the return of 

 daylight, which however could not offer him any very cheering pro- 

 spects, since he had no hope of finding the right track, unless by some 

 lucky accident ; and he was so ill provided with powder and shot, 

 that he could not have long subsisted by the produce of the chace. 

 In this deplorable situation he at last heard— and who can paint his 

 joy ?— our firing at Ponte do Gentio. Inspired with new hopes, he 

 sprung up, fired a couple of shot by way of answer, which, from the 

 attention with which we listened in the silence of the night, were for- 

 tunately heard by us. If he had been a little farther off, or behind 

 an eminence, he would not have been able to hear our firing, nor we 

 his ; it would have been impossible for us to find him, and his fate in 

 the frightful wilderness would have been most lamentable, for he had 

 intended to attempt, on the following morning, to seek the way back, 

 exactly in the opposite direction to the faze7ida. 



This Circumstance may serve as a proof how necessary it is to em- 

 ploy the greatest precaution, when any one will penetrate alone into 

 these vast solitudes, without being in some measure acquainted with 

 them, or possessing the extraordinary talent of the Indians for finding 

 their way. The steward of Ponte do Gentio, a Portuguese, well ac- 

 quainted with the chace in this country, once lost his way on such an 

 expedition, and wandered about in the woods for seven days ; but 

 as he was provided with a tinder-box, powder and shot, so that he 

 could supply his most urgent wants, he at last succeeded in reaching 

 a plantation on the Alcobapa. Two Indians, who had been sent 

 by the bailiff to follow his track and look for him, arrived soon after 

 him. It is a mistaken notion that pro\isions are every where to be 

 found in these forests. Notwithstanding the numerous species of wild 



